Event Recap: A Tribe Called Brunch

Looking for community, food, and consciousness at your weekend brunch? Look no further than A Tribe Called Brunch.

Founders Culp (left) and Henderson (right) - Photos by Isra Khan

A Tribe Called Brunch is an Austin-based organization started by Michael Henderson and Jared Culp in 2017. On February 25th, they hosted their first event of 2018 at Impact Hub.

Called “Seat At The Table: #MeToo and the Way Forward”, the brunch featured four woman speakers from different backgrounds and industries to talk about their experiences as women and how they see the world moving forward towards true equality.

If it seems odd that two men designed an event around the woman-focused #MeToo movement, you might enjoy coming to a future brunch. Henderson and Culp outline each event to be a thought-provoking (as well as delicious) experience, designed to expand attendees worldviews.

This event is the same-designed to keep the conversation moving forward. “We’re not the experts in #metoo. We’re not the face of the movement. We’re the amplifiers,” said Henderson.

Culp elaborated by saying “After the women’s march [last year], we wanted to do an event that looks at ‘what does the conversation look like a year later? How do we create a dialogue around this?’”

Brunch was Filipino food eaten without utensils

The meal was catered by Irvianne Torremoro, a local food blogger, and chef. Brunch was Filipino food served in a traditional communal style. (No one had plates, and guests ate with their hands.

She designed the meal with her Filipino grandmother in mind and cooked the entire meal by herself.

“When Jared asked me to do this, I started thinking of all the women who have inspired me since I’ve been cooking. My grandma is my number one inspiration. My first forays into the kitchen were with her, basically following her around,” Irvianne explained. What better way to honor the #MeToo movement than with a woman inspired, woman made meal?

A Tribe Called Brunch is committed to having the types of conversations that most people shy away from. They’re civically and socially minded, and they deliberately chose to partner with Impact Hub.

“Impact Hub is a socially conscious co-working space. This is our second event here, and we deliberately chose to work with them,” said Henderson. Henderson paints me a picture of the group’s first event: they held it in a warehouse that was still under construction, and they had to rent battery operated sound equipment because there weren’t enough wall outlets.

Impact Hub

Impact Hub provides a beautiful space with a like-minded mission for their work. Past events have included brunches around gentrification and design, religion, and reimagining philanthropy.

So what’s next for A Tribe Called Brunch?

“We want to keep the events quarterly,” said Culp. “We want to grow the number of attendees, create a website, document each event and partner with more organizations, and cement our history.”